UTSA makes Georgia State its latest ‘statement'

Updated 1:08 am, Sunday, September 16, 2012

UTSA beat Georgia State for the second year in a row, this time cranking out an impressive 38-14 victory in front of a sparse crowd at the Georgia Dome.

Last year, the Roadrunners fell behind by two touchdowns in the first half, then had to rally to edge the Panthers 17-14 in overtime in San Antonio.

Eleventh-hour dramatics were hardly necessary in the return game for surprisingly undefeated UTSA, which is playing in only its second year of football.

“I felt like we could win, but I thought we'd have to play our best,” UTSA coach Larry Coker said. “I'm feeling very proud for our team and for our coaches. Our game plans were good, and our guys executed them.”

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The third-year Panthers (0-3) took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter on Ben McLane's 84-yard touchdown pass to Albert Wilson.

The Roadrunners (3-0) retaliated with an 84-yard play of their own, a kickoff return by Kenny Harrison that set up the first of three touchdown runs by running back Evans Okotcha.

From there, the rout was on in front of an announced crowd of 11,496.

“We wanted to make a statement,” said cornerback Erik Brown, who had one of three interceptions for the Roadrunners. “We came here to prove something, that we're not just a new Division I team that's going to barely make it.

“We wanted to prove that we're a real up-tempo team and that we can play with anybody.”

Despite losing running back David Glasco and wide receiver Kam Jones to minor injuries, the Eric Soza-led Roadrunners at one point reeled off 35 unanswered points in the middle quarters.

The Panthers couldn't stop the streak until backup quarterback Ronnie Bell fired a 25-yard TD pass to Wilson at the end of the third period.

It didn't do much to salve the hurt feelings in the home team's locker room.

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“There was no lack of effort,” Georgia State coach Bill Curry said of his team's spotty defense. “There was execution by the other team that was very good. There were cases where we had the guy covered and simply didn't make the play.”

Once again, Soza was solid.

He hit 17 of 24 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns, both of them on highlight-reel worthy catches — one by Aaron Grubb in the second quarter and the other by Marcellus Mack in the third.

In addition, a punishing running game produced 225 yards and 4.2 yards per carry.

Not to be outdone, the defense was physical from the start, holding Georgia State to 307 yards and forcing four turnovers.

As a unit, UTSA finished off the game much better than it did in previous victories this season over South Alabama and Texas A&M-Commerce.

“We had a much better finish today,” Coker said. “I think three of our drives we were just using clock, I wouldn't say not trying to score, but not really doing some things that would have made it easier to score. I think the way we finished, I was very pleased with that.”